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Thursday, May 26, 2011

A winner, a win and an ethical question....

First off, thanks to everyone who took the time to enter my Sew Mama Sew giveaway and for your lovely comments. I especially appreciate those of you who took the time to poke around my site and comment on my projects! Sorry I couldn't reply to all of you, but the numbers were a wee bit prohibitive for that, I would say!

Which got me to thinking. Now this thinking process may make me unpopular, but bear with me.

I recently entered, and was lucky to win, a giveaway (not part of SMS) by Alison at Little Island Quilting for this gorgeous handmade quilt AND a jelly roll of Moda fabric:Here is the "catch"- it was a fundraiser for Japan earthquake victims, and her only requirement to enter was to make a donation of an amount of your choice to a Japanese relief organization. Additional entries were granted if you were to blog about the giveaway.

She only received 19 entries.

So, it seems a bit ridiculous to me that here I have almost 800 entries for a few measly fat quarters of fabric. And it made me wonder...what if I had asked for something small in return for an entry? Say $1 in aide to one of the many earthquake/flood/fire/tornado affected areas out there? How many fewer entries would I have received?

Now, I am not trying to make you feel bad about yourself on this fine Thursday morning. Giveaway Day is a fun event and I personally enjoy it as much as the next person. And I know, with all the crazy tragedies happening in the world along with unstable economic times, it is hard to give to them all. But, would a dollar be so much? Or maybe $5?

Another fellow blogger, Dana at Old Red Barn Co., is hosting a similar quilt giveaway to help tornado victims in her husband's hometown of Joplin. Maybe you could pop by and help?

So, that said, on with the Dream On winner :-) I am too technically challenged to figure out how to cut and paste this so it looks all pretty, but here is who Random.org chose:

Wow...you're observation is probably right...and sad too. =( I had no idea about that giveaway...but am glad that you won. I think it is important to be giving to needs whenever we possibly can...and I make it a personal practice to try to remember those less fortunate. Thank you for once again reminding us to do just that!

I don't think you would have had a fraction of entries if you'd asked for a donation.As it was part of the Sew Mama Sew giveaway nobody is going to want to give a donation when there's hundreds of other free ones, but if it was you own giveaway it would be a different matter. Even then there a lots of reasons why people would give it a miss. For a start you wouldn't have the same amount of traffic to notice it. Then there's the technically challenged folk like you and me. :) Anything too complicated and we (well me anyway) just wouldn't bother. Not forgetting the whole "will the money get used properly" and a whole host of other reasons.

Unfortunately, I was not aware of that particular giveaway- since I am very new to the quilting blogosphere I still miss a lot! Luckily, I have been able to donate a few dollars to the blogs that are undertaking the gathering of donations for tornado victims- being on unemployment for the last six months I cannot give as much as I would truly like to- but every little bit counts!

On a side note- I was born and raised in Missouri and my parents and grandparents live there now- all of the tornados and severe weather has been very nerve racking and my heart really goes out to those who have lost their homes and loved ones...

So true. I entered her giveaway too. I almost didn't want to win because I felt so sad that she didn't have more of a response. Maybe people had already given and felt they had done their part? I will go and check out Dana's post.

BTW - I the "followers - people with excellent taste" cracks me up. I hadn't noticed it before.

If i had to donate a dollar for every entry i had on sms giveaway day i still would have entered a load. I may have reduced the number and really concentrated on my top ones but it wouldn't stop me. I know things are awfully tight for a lot of us right now, but I can always budget for charity.

Be clear if you are hosting a relief effort or a raffle or a giveaway. If it is a giveaway, it truly needs to be no strings attached...no purchase necessary...which includes not requiring readers to follow.

Honestly, I think there are so many factors that come into play here. For starters, you have nearly 400 more followers than she has. I, personally, only entered giveaways that appeared on my natural blogroll because as much as I LOVE giveaway day, I just have too much going on in my life right now. In the past, I have spent dayS entering giveaways.

On the one hand, it's sad that she didn't have as many entries ... but I guess I get it. You'd almost have to have a poll to ask what people's motives were. Being someone who likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, I would guess that many people have already given as much as they can.

On the bright side, I imagine only people who really, really wanted to win signed up. On the last giveaway day I participated in, I later realized that the person who won my prize was giving away the same thing! It was her own homemade version, of course, but the same thing. Congrats on your win! It really looks like a lovely quilt.

I can honestly say that I will pull from my budgeted funds to donate - having the extra motivation as a reminder is wonderful - because I get so caught up in my world that while I pray for those in need, I sometimes dont remember to give. I give in my community, but there are other communities in need. So - long story short - it is a nice reminder. xoxoxo

I should clarify....the quilt/donation was not a part of Sew Mama Sew Giveaways Day, but took place last week! The nature of the SMS Giveaway day is free stuff, and that is great! And certainly the traffic to sites generated by this event waaaaaay exceeds an individual giveaway on ANY blog. My point was only that, by contrast, it was a little unsettling to see the difference. But, I can say that I am really warmed by the comments and generosity here today :-) You guys are great!

The Pioneer Woman had a giveaway and she said she'd donate a quarter for every entry to tornado relief. I thought that was a cool concept! Now, if you donated a quarter for each entry you'd be out $200, but it's an interesting concept. Maybe I could've given away a smaller prize and then also made a donation in the winner's name (or something like that!). I don't know...something to think about!

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